Spreading the word...

I have to commend the News Leader for keeping bike issues in the public eye. Yesterday the paper ran an article on the trails at Betsy Bell and Mary Gray (my blog entry on the trails). Here's a short blurb from yesterday's article and the link (if the link dies, please let me know and I'll get a permanent)

City ready to open mountain routes
By David Royer/staff droyer@newsleader.com

STAUNTON — The path is clear for two-wheeled adventure-seekers in the region — Staunton is wrapping up work on its first off-road trails, as Augusta County and Waynesboro begin planning their own.
The Queen City's links in the bicycle chain are the first to open. This week, city employees used a GPS system to create a map of the routes up the 1,900-foot summit of Betsy Bell Mountain and its smaller sister, Mary Gray...

http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070106/NEWS01/701060330/1002/NEWS17

I was surprised to see that the online edition of the article provided a link to this blog.

The article mentions Berry Farm, but not the proposed trail system. James, myself, and Rich met with Ron Sites this past Thursday to discuss the creation of trails at Berry Farm. This was a very productive meeting. James and I will follow up with Ron this next week. We will also attend the Parks Commission meeting on January 17th to show public interest in the trails. I am trying to get/keep other constituent groups interested/aware of the trails, like local running clubs and SVBC/SMBC. While we may not be able to construct trails this year, we can get a solid design plan developed for construction in 2008. Maybe we'll catch a break and get some trails started this year...